Kerry Charges Bush Soft on Chavez

John Kerry is accusing the White House of failing to promote democratic reforms in Venezuela. On his campaign Web site under "Foreign Policy," the presumptive candidate writes:

"With the future of the democratic process at a critical juncture in Venezuela, we should work to bring all possible international pressure to bear on President Chavez to allow the referendum to proceed. The Administration should demonstrate its true commitment to democracy in Latin America by showing determined leadership now, while a peaceful resolution can still be achieved.

"Throughout his time in office, President Chavez has repeatedly undermined democratic institutions by using extra-legal means, including politically motivated incarcerations, to consolidate power. In fact, his close relationship with Fidel Castro has raised serious questions about his commitment to leading a truly democratic government.

"Moreover, President Chavez’s policies have been detrimental to our interests and those of his neighbors. He has compromised efforts to eradicate drug cultivation by allowing Venezuela to become a haven for narco-terrorists, and sowed instability in the region by supporting anti-government insurgents in Colombia.

"The referendum has given the people of Venezuela the opportunity to express their views on his presidency through constitutionally legitimate means. The international community cannot allow President Chavez to subvert this process, as he has attempted to do thus far. He must be pressured to comply with the agreements he made with the OAS and the Carter Center to allow the referendum to proceed, respect the exercise of free expression, and release political prisoners.

"Too often in the past, this Administration has sent mixed signals by supporting undemocratic processes in our own hemisphere -- including in Venezuela, where they acquiesced to a failed coup attempt against President Chavez. Having just allowed the democratically elected leader to be cast aside in Haiti, they should make a strong statement now by leading the effort to preserve the fragile democracy in Venezuela."

Although ostensibly an attack on Bush's image on Latin America policy, strategists opine that the recent attack is primarily intended to further erode the president's standing among Cuban-American voters in Florida – who view Chávez as an ally of Fidel Castro and support stronger U.S. action to assist a recall vote against him, according to a report in the Miami Herald.

For his part, Kerry has been under fire in recent days for his shifting stands on Cuba – including his assertion in Florida recently that he backed a 1996 law to stiffen sanctions on the communist island even though he actually voted against it on final passage.

Rand Beers, a former White House counterterrorism official who quit the White House and now works as Kerry's chief foreign policy adviser, said:

"The Bush administration has a somewhat tainted record on Venezuela. They've been unprepared to do everything necessary to speak out on the issues of democracy."

Pundits, however, say that the quiet appearance of the Venezuela policy on the candidate's Web site shows that the Kerry campaign is still testing the effectiveness of the issue, and the candidate himself is not yet comfortable making an aggressive pitch.

Meanwhile, White House political strategist Karl Rove headed to Miami last week to vouch for Bush's sincerity on fighting Castro.

Others in the Bush camp are already fighting back.

"Tough talk just in time for a presidential election does not make up for 19 years of being soft on Castro," said Bush spokesman Reed Dickens.

At least eight in 10 of Florida's nearly half-million Cuban-American voters backed Bush in 2000, when he won the state by just 537 votes, but some recent polls suggest the president's approval ratings may be slipping in that key bloc, according to the news report.

The latest survey, conducted by Florida International University for the Sun-Sentinel, showed that only about 60 percent of Cuban-American voters in Miami-Dade and Broward counties said they planned to back Bush.

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